Mailbag: Who are the top five blockers and defenders in the world? More fan questions

Mailbag: Who are the top five blockers and defenders in the world? More fan questions

Typically, I’d be a bit neurotic by now. Short on sleep. Distracted. Mind ping-ponging back and forth, looking at the draw, then looking again – did it change did it change?

This, of course, is not the typical pre-AVP Huntington Beach qualifier eve. This is just a Wednesday like any other in the off-season: no events on the foreseeable horizon. Nothing specific to train for.

Sleep comes easy.

In such a strangely uncertain sports world, Tri and I opened up SANDCAST: Beach volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter, to fan questions, and we did our best to answer, or at least opine, on them. A few I’ve written our responses to. Because nobody wants to read 3,000 words of me answering questions, you can find our answers to the rest on our episode.

Question one: Who are some younger players to watch out for (not obvious ones like Eric Beranek, etc.) Where do you think the season will begin? Where have you been training? (and we know you have, wink)

This is always such a difficult list for the men, because there really aren’t many youngsters who would willingly commit to beach over indoor. Kawika Shoji discussed that very thing last week on SANDCAST, and the list of reasons is nearly endless, with financial security being the most obvious. However, there are a handful. Miles Partain is the obvious candidate here. At just 18 years old and still in high school, he already has a fifth-place AVP finish to his name, at AVP Chicago with Paul Lotman. He made the final three AVP main draws of the season – Manhattan, Chicago, Hawai’i – and trained the entire off-season under coach Tyler Hildebrand and our top national teams. He’s a can’t-miss up-and-comer.

The women, meanwhile, are nearly endless. Peruse the top two courts at any of the top 15 or so college programs and you have AVP main draw talents. The names I’ll point you to, however, are these: Savvy Simo and Abby Van Winkle (UCLA), Alaina Chacon and Molly McBain (Florida State), Haley Harward (USC), Brook Bauer and Deahna Kraft (Pepperdine), Julia Scoles and Morgan Martin (Hawai’i), Delaynie Maple and Megan Kraft (committed to USC), Torrey Van Winden (Cal Poly), Reka Orsi Toth and Iya Lindahl (LMU), Sunniva Helland-Hansen and Carly Perales (Stetson), Dani Alvarez (TCU), Kristen Nuss and Claire Coppola (LSU), Mima Mirkovic (Cal).

Of the bunch, my breakout selection would be Simo, UCLA’s dynamic court one defender and unquestioned leader of the team I would have bet a fair amount of American dollars to win the National Championship. She has all the potential to become this year’s version of a Sarah Sponcil, who made the finals in her first AVP event, or Zana Muno, another Bruin who made an AVP semifinal in her rookie season.

Question two: Should the AVP start a Dino Division for players post 50 who still want to compete 3-4 times per year? Golf has masters, AVP has dino?

I thought this question was hysterical in the best of ways. Idealistically, this sounds great. Who wouldn’t want to watch Tim Hovland yap with Sinjin Smith, while the always-quiet Mike Dodd digs balls and Randy Stoklos yells about how he was the first person to ever hand set? I’m game. But it is, let’s all be honest here, a bit quixotic. The AVP does well enough to put on eight events for the best, most explosive players in the world, and when compared to the major sports, there’s a niche market at best.

Would there really be a market for old men with big mouths and small verticals?

The dino is such a great event because it’s the only one – and it’s given a shot of life with younger players such as Tayor Crabb to help carry their older counterparts. It’s fun, competitive, and a little heartwarming.

Golf’s Champions Tour works because guys like Tom Watson and Fred Couples can still compete at close to the same level they could when they were in their primes. There’s no impact on their bodies, and the level of play is still astonishingly high. Watson, for example, finished second at The Open Championship in 2009, losing in a four-hole playoff, 26 years after his most recent major win, when he was 60 years old.

I have no doubt that Sinjin can still ball. But could he get out there with Stoklos and take Jake Gibb and Crabb to three sets in the finals of the Manhattan Beach Open? Doubtful.

I think p1440 nailed an older-aged event when they hosted a four-on-four match featuring two legends and two current pros on either team. There’s certainly a market and space for something whimsical like that to happen a few times per year.

Until then, keep the Dino the great, annual event that it is.

Question 3: Will there be a new BVB book (got my copy signed by Tri in Hamburg)?

Yes. Maybe. I can’t tell you for sure. But all I can say is that there could, potentially, be a possibility of an upcoming beach volleyball book to be released in early summer.

Question 4: Rate your top 5 male defenders/blockers internationally.

This was such a fun one to discuss. Everybody keeps talking about how much parity there is on the world tour, and with good reason. Attempting to nail down the top five defenders is, to me, like trying to rank my favorite golf courses in Myrtle Beach – they’re all the best courses.

The top five blockers came a little easier. We decided on:

  1. Anders Mol, Norway
  2. Oleg Stoyanovskiy, Russia
  3. Phil Dalhausser, United States
  4. Alison Cerutti, Brazil
  5. Evandro Goncalves, Brazil

Honorable mentions included: Paolo Nicolai, Italy; Michal Bryl, Poland; Jake Gibb, United States; Tri Bourne, United States; Julius Thole, Germany.

The defenders weren’t so clear-cut. It’s impossible to rank them because they’re all playing behind blockers of varying sizes and abilities. But we wound up pinning it down to:

  1. Taylor Crabb, United States (we are prepared to duke it out from six feet away with those who disagree)
  2. Christian Sorum, Norway
  3. Clemens Wickler, Germany
  4. Viacheslav Krasilnikov, Russia
  5. Grzegorz Fijalek, Poland

Honorable mentions included: Alvaro Filho, Brazil; Bruno Schmidt, Brazil; Adrian Carambula, Italy; Nick Lucena, United States; Daniele Lupo, Italy.

Jaksot(500)

SANDCAST Mailbag: Who are the new beach volleyball partnerships for 2022?

SANDCAST Mailbag: Who are the new beach volleyball partnerships for 2022?

This episode of SANDCAST: Beach Volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter, marks FOUR YEARS of the podcast! What began as an off-the-wall idea at a breakfast meeting at the Ocean Diner in Hermosa Beach has become my biggest storytelling passion, and, strangely, one of the points of Bourne’s beach volleyball career for which the Olympian and Manhattan Beach Open champ is now most well-known. It's been an incredible ride, and we have you, the listeners, to thank for that. Seriously, we love you. Above all, that has always been, and will continue to be, our main goal with SANDCAST: Give the beach volleyball fans the beach volleyball stories and content they want. For our four-year anniversary, then, what better way to celebrate than by answering questions from the fans who keep this show moving? On this episode, we answer: - Who are the new beach volleyball partnerships heading into the 2022 season?  - How epic is the Myrtle Beach Open? - What is up with Konstantin Semenov's body language? - Will the new World Tour format pull more players from the AVP? - What's one rule we would change in beach volleyball? And many, many more! ENJOY! *** We now have SANDCAST MERCHANDISE!! Rock the gear of your favorite podcast today! https://www.sandcastmerch.com/ This episode, as always, is brought to you by Wilson Volleyball, makers of the absolute best balls in the game, hands down. You can get a 20-percent discount using our code, SANDCAST-20! https://www.wilson.com/en-us/volleyball Check out our book, Volleyball for Milkshakes, written by SANDCAST hosts Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter: https://www.amazon.com/Volleyball-Milkshakes-Travis-Mewhirter/dp/B089781SHB  Be sure to check out some of the coolest beach volleyball gear in the country at Vollis Beach! Recently partnered with LuLu Lemon, Vollis is offering high quality, good looking apparel, and you can get it at a discount using Travisfans to get 15 percent off! https://www.vollisgear.com/ SHOOTS!

20 Loka 20211h 20min

Riley McKibbin: The rise to one of beach volleyball‘s most important voices

Riley McKibbin: The rise to one of beach volleyball‘s most important voices

This episode of SANDCAST: Beach Volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter, features, for the first time, Riley McKibbin on his own. You guys, of course, know Riley McKibbin: He's the elder of the Beard Bros and the editor of the viral and wildly popular McKibbin YouTube channel, which is providing so, so, so much good for the beach volleyball world.  On this episode, we discuss: - The direction of the YouTube channel, and how it is more geared towards storytelling than tutorials - A new four-man event being put on by the McKibbins and SharpeVision - Riley's rise through the volleyball world, from benchwarmer to a setter on the U.S. National Team And, as always, much, much more.  ENJOY! *** We now have SANDCAST MERCHANDISE!! Rock the gear of your favorite podcast today! https://www.sandcastmerch.com/ This episode, as always, is brought to you by Wilson Volleyball, makers of the absolute best balls in the game, hands down. You can get a 20-percent discount using our code, SANDCAST-20! https://www.wilson.com/en-us/volleyball Check out our book, Volleyball for Milkshakes, written by SANDCAST hosts Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter: https://www.amazon.com/Volleyball-Milkshakes-Travis-Mewhirter/dp/B089781SHB  Be sure to check out some of the coolest beach volleyball gear in the country at Vollis Beach! Recently partnered with LuLu Lemon, Vollis is offering high quality, good looking apparel, and you can get it at a discount using Travisfans to get 15 percent off! https://www.vollisgear.com/ SHOOTS!

13 Loka 20211h 26min

Jake Gibb has one last tournament before becoming the full-time soccer dad

Jake Gibb has one last tournament before becoming the full-time soccer dad

This episode of SANDCAST: Beach Volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter, is a re-run episode that we recorded back in August of 2018 with Jake Gibb. When we initially recorded this episode, Gibb was one day removed from the Manhattan Beach Open finals, where he and Taylor Crabb lost to Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena.  We figured now would be a great time to run it back, given that Gibb is in his final tournament of his storied career, competing at the World Tour Finals.  On this episode, Gibb discusses: - How ignorance perhaps paved the way to him becoming one of the best American blockers of all-time - The growth of his partnership with Taylor Crabb. This in particular is fun to look back upon, as Crabb was just beginning to come into his own in 2018 and is now one of the best defenders in the world.  - His growth curve as a professional beach volleyball player, and the importance of a growth mindset - Two young Norwegian kids named Anders Mol and Christian Sorum And, as always, much, much more: ENJOY! *** We now have SANDCAST MERCHANDISE!! Rock the gear of your favorite podcast today! https://www.sandcastvolleyball.com/merchandise/ This episode, as always, is brought to you by Wilson Volleyball, makers of the absolute best balls in the game, hands down. You can get a 20-percent discount using our code, SANDCAST-20! https://www.wilson.com/en-us/volleyball Check out our book, Volleyball for Milkshakes, written by SANDCAST hosts Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter: https://www.amazon.com/Volleyball-Milkshakes-Travis-Mewhirter/dp/B089781SHB  Be sure to check out some of the coolest beach volleyball gear in the country at Vollis Beach! Recently partnered with LuLu Lemon, Vollis is offering high quality, good looking apparel, and you can get it at a discount using Travisfans to get 15 percent off! https://www.vollisgear.com/ SHOOTS!

6 Loka 202144min

Rising Canadian defender Jake MacNeil‘s life on the road is only beginning

Rising Canadian defender Jake MacNeil‘s life on the road is only beginning

This episode of SANDCAST: Beach Volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter, features Mewhirter's good friend and standout Canadian defender Jake MacNeil. The two have been on the road together for nearly two months this season, and are currently filming a movie in Bulgaria.  Our chat is a wide-ranging one, discussing: - MacNeil's experience as a training partner at the Tokyo Olympic Games - A wild season in which he and Will Hoey were on the road non-stop since May - The difference between teams a the one-star level and the five-star level - What the next few years are looking like in the Canadian federation And, as always, much more.  ENJOY! *** We now have SANDCAST MERCHANDISE!! Rock the gear of your favorite podcast today! https://www.sandcastvolleyball.com/merchandise/ This episode, as always, is brought to you by Wilson Volleyball, makers of the absolute best balls in the game, hands down. You can get a 20-percent discount using our code, SANDCAST-20! https://www.wilson.com/en-us/volleyball Check out our book, Volleyball for Milkshakes, written by SANDCAST hosts Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter: https://www.amazon.com/Volleyball-Milkshakes-Travis-Mewhirter/dp/B089781SHB  Be sure to check out some of the coolest beach volleyball gear in the country at Vollis Beach! Recently partnered with LuLu Lemon, Vollis is offering high quality, good looking apparel, and you can get it at a discount using Travisfans to get 15 percent off! https://www.vollisgear.com/ SHOOTS!

29 Syys 202148min

Yariv Lerner is bringing beach volleyball back to the big screen

Yariv Lerner is bringing beach volleyball back to the big screen

This episode of SANDCAST: Beach Volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter, is AWESOME. This episode features Yariv Lerner, the CEO of Nu Boyana Film Studios, one of the largest film studios in Europe.  Why are we having a CEO of a film studio on the podcast? Because Lerner is producing a movie, Qualifying, depicting the grinding journey of the qualifier beach volleyball player, shooting it at Sofia Beach in Sofia, Bulgaria. Now, for the first time since Sideout, beach volleyball will be back on the big screen, and for the first time ever, it's going to be done right.  On this episode, we discuss: - How this movie came to be, and how a script written 20 years ago by Tom Black was revived to become a bona fide movie - How Lerner became so passionate about beach volleyball, beginning on the coasts of South Africa to Santa Monica - Lerner's legendary house in Santa Monica, which roofed players such as Billy Allen, Nick Lucena, John Mayer, Kevin Wong, and Adam Roberts, among others - The cast, plot, and projected release date of Qualifying And, as always, so much more.  ENJOY! *** We now have SANDCAST MERCHANDISE!! Rock the gear of your favorite podcast today! https://www.sandcastvolleyball.com/merchandise/ This episode, as always, is brought to you by Wilson Volleyball, makers of the absolute best balls in the game, hands down. You can get a 20-percent discount using our code, SANDCAST-20! https://www.wilson.com/en-us/volleyball Check out our book, Volleyball for Milkshakes, written by SANDCAST hosts Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter: https://www.amazon.com/Volleyball-Milkshakes-Travis-Mewhirter/dp/B089781SHB  Be sure to check out some of the coolest beach volleyball gear in the country at Vollis Beach! Recently partnered with LuLu Lemon, Vollis is offering high quality, good looking apparel, and you can get it at a discount using Travisfans to get 15 percent off! https://www.vollisgear.com/ SHOOTS!

22 Syys 20211h 5min

April Ross and Alix Klineman, and the micro changes that led to an Olympic gold medal

April Ross and Alix Klineman, and the micro changes that led to an Olympic gold medal

This episode of SANDCAST: Beach Volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter, features Tokyo Olympic GOLD MEDALISTS April Ross and Alix Klineman, as well as the lovable and wonderful and fantastic guest host, Chris Geeter McGee.  What an absolute treat this episode is. Over a few glasses of wine, Ross and Klineman discuss: - How they didn't consider themselves favorites heading into Tokyo  - Their experience at the Olympic Games, and how Klineman felt oddly calm during the entire experience - Ross' decision to go with Klineman, and how it was only Jen Kessy who agreed that Klineman was the best option - Whether or not they intend to play Paris together And so, so much more. ENJOY! *** We now have SANDCAST MERCHANDISE!! Rock the gear of your favorite podcast today! https://www.sandcastvolleyball.com/merchandise/ This episode, as always, is brought to you by Wilson Volleyball, makers of the absolute best balls in the game, hands down. You can get a 20-percent discount using our code, SANDCAST-20! https://www.wilson.com/en-us/volleyball Check out our book, Volleyball for Milkshakes, written by SANDCAST hosts Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter: https://www.amazon.com/Volleyball-Milkshakes-Travis-Mewhirter/dp/B089781SHB  Be sure to check out some of the coolest beach volleyball gear in the country at Vollis Beach! Recently partnered with LuLu Lemon, Vollis is offering high quality, good looking apparel, and you can get it at a discount using Travisfans to get 15 percent off! https://www.vollisgear.com/ SHOOTS!

15 Syys 20211h 47min

At 24 years old, TJ DeFalco might be the young guy, but he‘s no rookie

At 24 years old, TJ DeFalco might be the young guy, but he‘s no rookie

Welcome back to SANDCAST: Beach Volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter. On this episode, we brought in yet another Olympian – and a rookie who is not a real rookie on the beach, TJ DeFalco. DeFalco competed in his first Olympics in Tokyo, making a name for himself with an absurd ability to hit the back row quick set, then got the coolest of calls: Nick Lucena wanted to play the Manhattan Beach Open with him. And so it was that DeFalco played his first AVP since 2016. On this episode we discuss: How it felt for TJ to get back on the beach after nearly five years off it His first Olympic experience in Tokyo How Reid Priddy forever altered the trajectory of his career How eight words and a phone call from Matt Fuerbringer got him to partner with Nick Lucena   And, as always, much, much more.   ENJOY!   We now have SANDCAST MERCHANDISE!! Rock the gear of your favorite podcast today! https://www.sandcastvolleyball.com/merchandise/ This episode, as always, is brought to you by Wilson Volleyball, makers of the absolute best balls in the game, hands down. You can get a 20-percent discount using our code, SANDCAST-20! https://www.wilson.com/en-us/volleyball Check out our book, Volleyball for Milkshakes, written by SANDCAST hosts Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter: https://www.amazon.com/Volleyball-Milkshakes-Travis-Mewhirter/dp/B089781SHB  Be sure to check out some of the coolest beach volleyball gear in the country at Vollis Beach! Recently partnered with LuLu Lemon, Vollis is offering high quality, good looking apparel, and you can get it at a discount using Travisfans to get 15 percent off! https://www.vollisgear.com/

8 Syys 202146min

Tri Bourne and Trevor Crabb, Manhattan Champs, going somewhere they‘ve never gone before

Tri Bourne and Trevor Crabb, Manhattan Champs, going somewhere they‘ve never gone before

This episode of SANDCAST: Beach Volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter, features the most recent winners of the AVP Manhattan Beach Open: Tri Bourne and Trevor Crabb.  Bourne and Crabb made a huge comeback to beat Chaim Schalk and Theo Brunner in the semifinals before beating Casey Patterson and Chase Budinger in the finals. It marked Crabb's second Manhattan Beach Open win and Bourne's first.  On this episode, we discuss: - How it feels for Bourne to alas win the Manhattan Open after two losses in the finals - How the second win was just as sweet for Trevor Crabb, who won his first with Reid Priddy in 2019 - The mental focus Bourne found in the semifinals, when he and Crabb went down 16-12 to up 19-16.  - Trevor now being 2-0 when he guarantees victory And so, so much more.  ENJOY! *** We now have SANDCAST MERCHANDISE!! Rock the gear of your favorite podcast today! https://www.sandcastvolleyball.com/merchandise/ This episode, as always, is brought to you by Wilson Volleyball, makers of the absolute best balls in the game, hands down. You can get a 20-percent discount using our code, SANDCAST-20! https://www.wilson.com/en-us/volleyball Check out our book, Volleyball for Milkshakes, written by SANDCAST hosts Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter: https://www.amazon.com/Volleyball-Milkshakes-Travis-Mewhirter/dp/B089781SHB  Be sure to check out some of the coolest beach volleyball gear in the country at Vollis Beach! Recently partnered with LuLu Lemon, Vollis is offering high quality, good looking apparel, and you can get it at a discount using Travisfans to get 15 percent off! https://www.vollisgear.com/   SHOOTS!

1 Syys 202157min

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